Pentecost 12

August 07, 2016

Psalm 33.12-22: Experiencing the Real World
Series: Praying the Psalms
St. Bs
In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
I. The Reality of our World
A. Our Problems
1. Im sure Im not the only one who has been
weighed down with the heaviness of this
summer. And Im not talking about the
Nashville humidity.
2. Im talking about the events in our nation and
our world. All the violence thats unveiled the
racism still rooted in our culture; the fear and
death resulting from this tragic range of
terrorist acts; the confusion, the distrust, the
harsh language, and the division thats become
such a distressing part of this years election.
3. These layered, convoluted problems of our
culture and our world on top of our own
personal issues and problems. Its
overwhelming at times.
4. And this is what Ive carrying as Ive been
preparing to preach on the psalms as a way of
praying. Because each psalm come to us first
as a prayer.
B. Prayer
1. And prayer means that we experience the
world first not as a problem to be solved but as
a reality in which God is acting (Peterson 41).

Thats a great quote from Eugene Peterson:

Prayer is where we experience the world first
not as a problem to be solved but as a reality in
which God is acting.
2. In other words, prayer sets our experience and
our understanding in its proper orientation
acknowledging the presence, the power, and the
involvement of our God in every situation,
personal, national, or global.
3. And this is what the psalms do.
4. I wish I had time to explore with you the beauty
and power of the Book of Psalms as a whole,
but I dont. But David Madeira does on
Wednesday nights, so go to his class starting
this week.
5. For now, I want to point out to you two
important parts (parallel fists) of the whole
(to interlaced fingers) of The Psalms.
II. The Psalms
A. Structure
1. The first part is the structure (right fist): When
you look at the The Psalms as a whole, youll
discover that theyve been arranged into five
sections; there are actually five books of psalms
(right hand, fingers). Jewish and Christian
scholars see that that intentional editing to
correspond with the Pentateuch (left hand,
fingers) the Five books of Moses, of the Old
Testament. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers
Deuteronomy (sing it). Thats how I learned
my books of the bible in Sunday school.
2. So what God has given us, through the real life
experience of humanity and divine inspiration,

gives us the five books of the Pentateuch (left

hand) words of creation, Gods saving acts in
history, and his covenant with Israel.
3. And five books of the Psalms (right hand)
words of struggle and lament, storytelling, and
praise
4. Another way of saying this: (Left hand) Gods
creating, saving word and action in this world,
and (right hand) he gives to us our response to
his word and action in this world. And here
comes the second part:
B. Psalms: Response to God
1. This biblical structure, brings shape and
meaning to our prayer (hands together).
2. The psalms are prayers setting our lives our
experience and our understanding in response
to God.
3. Well look briefly at Psalm 33, a hymn of
praise, as an example of this.
III.Psalm 33
A. Our World
1. Hold in your mind and these convoluted
problems I mentioned terrorism, racism, the
elections
2. And lets pray through Psalm 33turn to page
7 in your bulletins to keep the words before
you.
B. Psalm 33.1-11
1. What we sang this morning is the second half
of the psalm. The first half calls the community
to praise God together for being the one who
created our world with his word, who filled it
with his unyielding, promise-keeping love, and

who steadily brings about his purposes through

the generations.
2. This is what a hymn in the Psalms does in the
face of evidence to the contrary, the psalm
reorients us and enables us to declare that this
world belongs to God, is filled with his love,
and that he is accomplishing what the psalmist
calls the plans of his heart to all generations
(11b) the restoration of all creation in and
through his messiah, Jesus.
3. Lets continue with verse 2 in your bulletins.
C. Verse 2 (vv. 13-15): He Sees; He fashions
1. From where he sits enthroned, he sees the
dwellers in all lands. He fashions all the hearts
of them, their works he understands.
2. God the King sees what is going on in our
world; he does not close his eyes to suffering,
violence, and injustice. And he understands the
heart of each person suffering and each person
causing the suffering, and he is involved in their
lives, fashioning their hearts restoring all of
creation in and through his messiah, Jesus.
3. God, you see and even understand the violence
of ISIS, the suffering of the refugees, the grief
of the families and friends of the victims of
France and Florida. Fashion their hearts with
your tender, strong hands!
D. Verse 3 (vv.16-17): Human Strength and Skill Do
Not Save
1. An army cannot save a king, nor strength a
man of might; the horses power will only fail
to save us from our plight.

2. Human wisdom, skill, and strength is not what

will save us; our hope is not in Donald or
Hillary or Gary or the platforms and policies
they promise. This doesnt mean we become
passive even the godliest of the Old
Testament kings sent out armies to defeat
enemies, called on people of strength and
courage, and rode horses into battles to save
their people. But their hope, their confidence
was in the God enthroned above those armies,
people, and horses. And our hope is in the
same God enthroned above Republicans,
Democrats, and Libertarians -- the God who
sees and fashions the hearts of nations and
people restoring all of creation in and through
his messiah, Jesus.
3. Lord, you alone are the one who can uproot
racism from our hearts and society, you alone
are the one can meet the needs of people
struggling to feed themselves and their families
at their current wages. Even as we ask for
wisdom on how to vote this year, we remember
that we wait on you, that it is your steadfast
love that will bring lasting change and
provision.
E. Verse 5 (vv. 20-22): Our Help & Shield; His
Steadfast Love
1. Our help, our shield, our hope, our joy,
through ages still the same, LORD, let your
mercy rest on us; our trust is in your name.
2. When the sense of overwhelm begins to build,
when the knot of fear tightens, when anger and
cynicism and passivity threaten to become our

default reaction. Those are signals that we

have forgotten to experience the world not
as a problem to be solved but as a reality in
which God is acting. We set our lives in
response to his word and action in our world.
3. Lord, we are attacked by our fear, cynicism,
and passivity. Help us; shield us; be our joy; let
your unyielding, promise-keeping love rest on
us and permeate us. Our trust is in your name.
F. Verse 1 (vv. 12-13): Blessed, Chosen People
1. To conclude, lets look at verse 1: How blest
the people God the LORD has chosen for his
own! From heaven the LORD looks down,
beholds all people from his throne.
2. Thats us. As this hymn reminds us, we are the
ones who know what it is to belong to God.
Jesus literally embodies the truth of this psalm:
he became and remains the presence, the
power, and the involvement of our God in every
situation, re-shaping human hearts through his
death and resurrection.
3. As his followers, we are the ones called
together in Christ to experience and express this
reality. Andpraying together psalms like
Psalm 33 is one of the ways in which we do
this. Thats why every Sunday we pray the
psalms. In fact
4. David Madeira, I have a question for you. Why
did we sing the psalm the way we did this
morning?
IV.David Madeira
V. Conclusion:

A. "So let's gather our yearning for the healing of our

world, our nation, ourselvesinto this response to

God, this prayer of Psalm 33, by singing together

the last verse...."